Nurse faculty members inducted as fellows in national education academy

GREENVILLE, N.C. —   East Carolina University School of Nursing faculty members Drs. Martha Raile Alligood and Frances R. Eason have been inducted as fellows in the Academy of Nursing Education by the National League for Nursing.

Dr. Martha Raile Alligood, left, and Dr. Frances R. Eason

Alligood and Eason were among 41 fellows from 33 schools of nursing across the country inducted Sept. 29 as part of the NLN annual education summit in Phoenix.

Selected by the NLN Board of Governors, the oversight body for the academy, fellows were chosen for their sustained and significant contributions to the field of nursing education, said NLN Board President Toni Bargagliotti.

“We are proud of the visionary leadership these fellows represent. They serve as important role models to anyone aspiring to make a difference in nursing education, and ultimately to the delivery of health care in the United States,” she said.

Alligood, professor and director of the doctoral program in the ECU School of Nursing, joined the faculty in 2004. She was elected earlier this year to the governing board of the Southern Nursing Research Society and received the society’s Leadership in Nursing Research Award in 2006. Alligood’s research has focused on theories of adult human development and nursing empathy. She also has co-edited two nursing theory textbooks that have been printed in nine languages including English.

Eason is an ECU alumna and joined the faculty in 1976. She is project director of ECU’s new Nursing Education Educator Development program which is designed to assist faculty in schools of nursing meet N.C. Board of Nursing education requirements. Piloted at ECU, it is now offered statewide through distance education. Eason is also an expert in National Council Licensure Examination design and preparation.

The NLN established the Academy of Nursing Education to foster excellence in nursing education by recognizing and capitalizing on the wisdom of outstanding nurse educators. Fellows support the vision of the NLN to promote standards of excellence in nursing education that will increase the number of graduates from all types of nursing programs and serve as resources for new educators and those in clinical practice who hope to someday enter the ranks of nursing faculty.

Inductees were lauded for innovative teaching and learning strategies, nursing education research, faculty development, academic leadership, promotion of public policy and community partnerships.

For more information about the Academy of Nursing Education, visit www.nln.org/excellence/academy